Connecticut Citizens Action Group.

The Connecticut Citizen Action Group was the first state-based consumer interest group. Created in 1971 by Ralph Nader and directed by Toby Moffett, CCAG was designed to represent, inform, unite, and empower the citizens of Connecticut in their roles as consumers, workers, tax payers, and voters. Taking on such issues as illegal business practices, utility rate increases, environmental pollution, and consumer fraud, the newly formed group was inundated with citizen requests for information and counsel. One year after its inception, CCAG created the Citizen's Lobby. The Lobby's purpose was to increase citizen participation in the legislative process, and to sharpen the awareness of legislators to the needs and demands of their constituents. Among its victories, Citizen's Lobby lists passage of legislation allowing substitution of generic prescription drugs; a ban on utilities charging ratepayers for utility advertising; the Environmental Policy Act, which requires the state to submit statements regarding the environmental impact of state projects; a toll-free hot line to the Department of Consumer Protection for citizen complaints and problems; consumer protection legislation concerning issues ranging from credit card interest charges to see-through meat packaging; and protection of thousands of acres of watershed lands. In 1975, CCAG instituted a canvassing program with a staff of community organizers to go into Connecticut neighborhoods, explain CCAG 's work, and ask for financial and active support. This effort at community organizing tripled CCAG 's budget by the end of its first decade and swelled membership from three thousand in the mid-1970s to twenty-eight thousand in the mid-1980s. CCAG has served for over thirty years as an advocate for the rights of Connecticut citizens. Among its major activities and accomplishments are: the General Assembly Project, an in-depth analysis of the behavior of state legislators; the Health Project, which compiled a wide range of state health care information; organizing efforts to enact the Bottle Bill, which required deposits on many types of beverage containers; enforcing environmental standards and enacting consumer protection legislation; and watchdog oversight and legal action concerning utility companies and development projects.